Improvement in cotton-bale ties



y UNITED "STATES PATENTOFFICE MATTHEW E. MAURY, or NEW oELEANs,LOUISIANA.;

`|MPR0VEMENT IN CoTToN-BALE TIES.,

Specification forming part of Letters lPatent No. 65,102, dated May 28,1867.

had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification.

It has been found that while wire-rope presents the great advantage overhoop-iron, in

banding bales of cotton, of being cheaper and stronger, and less liableto injure the bagging and the cotton from rust, there is yet greatdifficulty in so attaching or tying the ends thereof, so that it willnot be weakened to such a degree by the abrupt bending requisite inmaking a knot as to break after the bale has been withdrawn from thecompressing-machine, under the enormous tension that is brought to bearupon it by the expansive force of the cotton within the bale. In nearlyevery form of knot yet devised or employed in fastening the endstogether, there are bends in the rope so short or abrupt that the momentthe strain becomes severe it gives way at these bends.

My invention remedies this difficulty, for it presents a Inode offastening the ends without making any knot whatever, and hence allnecessity for making short bends is avoided, and all danger obviated ofweakening the rope at the point of connection; and it consists of aplate of wrought or malleable iron, that is cut by a suitable machine insuch a manner that two sets of flanges are produced, which, when foldedover toward the center of the plate, provide a support for the loops inthe ends of the wire-rope, in which there are no angles or edges toabrade or cut the same, but, on the contrary, a smooth, rounded surface,that is sufficiently extended to prevent all contingency of a short bendof the rope at the point of junction. In doubling over the two sets ofiianges, a shoulder is developed at each end of the plate, which notonly prevents the loop from slipping off the same, but also serves tohold the loop in such a position as to bring the tension upon that partof it that rests upon the rounded points of support. But my inventionwill be better understood by referring to the drawings.

Figure l shows a plate, A, in which a set of the projecting flanges (theone marked a, and the other c') are folded upon opposite sidesthereof-that is to say, one set upon each side of the plate. In thisfigure, it will be observed, theloops at the ends of the wirerope, andwhich are formed by simply twisting the said ends, as shown at all thefigures upon the drawings, pass over the plate from opposite sides.

Fig. 2 is a plan or top view of the same plate, in which are shown theflanges as when folded over for usethat is to say, one set of saidflanges. Both Figs. l and 2 show the position of the wire-rope inrelation to the plate and its collars b b, at the ends thereof, when theinvention is in actual use.

Fig. 3 exhibits a view of the bottom side of the plate, by which I meanthe side that is placed next the bale, when both sets of lianges areturned upon, and the loops at both ends of the rope are supported from,the same side of the plate. When this form of plate is used, it isnecessary, in order to facilitate the pulling of the loops around it,that it should be bent as shown by the side view at Fig. 4. The loops,it will be perceived, are nearly circular, and consequently they havenowhere any abrupt bend, no matter what may be the degree of tension towhich they are subjected, and hence, also, inasmuch as the parts aredoubled at the point of junction with the plate, the rope will yield orbreak anywhere along its length before it will at said junction. This Ihave demonstrated by repeated experiments, and the reason is, that byreason of the absence of any acute bend in it, the full normal strengthof the rope, unimpaired in any respect, remains intact.

In the practice of my invention the plate may be attached to one end ofthe rope before it is applied to a bale, or both ends may be attached tothe plate as the operation of banding the bale is being performed. Themethod of applying it in either case is so very obvious and simple thatthe dullest laborer will at once understand it. After the bale of cottonhas reached its destination, and the bands need to be taken oif, thesimple cutting of the plate at the point c, with a pair of shears orother proper appliance, is all that is necessary,

' and thus the rope is preserved Without being shortened or injured inany Way, and so may be used again in banding another bale, and' so on adinfinitum.

My invention is especially designed for use in connection withWire-rope; but it is obvious it will be nearly as efficient and usefulfor fastening the ends of wire when the same is used for the likepurpose of vbanding cottonbales.

MATTHEW F. MAURY.

Witnesses:

RUFUs R. RHODES, H. B. BOND.

